• DOI:10.1007/S11407-998-0008-2
• Corpus ID: 144874792

Vivekānanda and Rāmakṛṣṇa face to face: An essay on the alterity of a saint

@article{Olson1998ViveknandaAR,
  title={Vivekānanda and Rāmakṛṣṇa face to face: An essay on the alterity of a saint},
  author={Carl P. Olson},
  journal={International Journal of Hindu Studies},
  year={1998},
  volume={2},
  pages={43-66}
}

• C. Olson
• Published 1 April 1998
• Art
• International Journal of Hindu Studies

It is well known that Ramakrsna, a nineteenth-century Bengali saint (1836-86), was enamored of his disciple Narendranath Datta (later Sv?m? Vivekananda, 1863-1902), organizer of the international Ved?nta movement, from the first that the saint of Dakshineshwar heard the young man sing devotional songs. Ramakrsna became upset when Vivekananda did not visit him for a period of time, and the Master would ask about his student's whereabouts and welfare. During this early period, Vivekananda was uncomfortable with the attention given to him by the saint, but he kept returning to visit the Master. Vivekananda told his brother-disciple and R?makrsna's biographer Sv?m? S?rad?nanda that after he had finished singing one evening the Master took him to a veranda covered by mat screens. After entering the veranda and closing the door, the two men were isolated and hidden from the view of others. Expecting some kind of private instruction, Vivekananda was surprised when Ramakrsna took hold of his hand, began to cry profusely tears of joy, and told him how he had been waiting for the young man for such a long time. Ramakrsna, continuing to weep and rave, stood before Vivekananda with folded hands in a respectful attitude, and he told the latter that he was an incarnation of the ancient rsi Nara, an aspect of N?r?yana (Visnu) himself, who had descended to earth in order to remove the misery and suffering of humankind. Vivek?nanda's response to the behavior and message of Ramakrsna was utter perplexity, and he related that he thought that the Master was completely insane. This strange encounter for Vivekananda concluded with Ramakrsna feeding him sweets, and the former promising to return alone to the madman soon (S?rad?nanda 1978-79, 2: 825). A month passed after this embarrassing incident for Narendra, and then he returned once more to visit Ramakrsna at Dakshineshwar on December 27 and 28,1881. While sitting on R?makrsna's small bed to which he had been asked to rest, the Master